Rapid measurement of T1–T2 relaxation correlation with a Look-Locker sequence

[Display omitted] •A Look-Locker based T1*–T2* pulse sequence was designed.•Designed T1*–T2* pulse sequence has a high collection efficiency and good accuracy.•T1*–T2* correlation provides quantitative information on complex samples. Measurement of longitudinal–transverse (T1–T2*) relaxation may be time-consuming for samples with a long T1 lifetime. In this work, a fast measurement method of T1*–T2* relaxation correlation was presented based on a saturation recovery Look-Locker sequence. T1* is the effective T1 lifetime. The T1 lifetime can be calculated from the measured T1* lifetime and acquisition parameters. The new measurement method was verified by numerical simulation. Three representative samples, corn starch, Advil caplets, and shale in the fields of food, pharmaceutics, and energy, were employed as test samples. Comparisons of T1*–T2* and T1–T2* relaxation correlations show that the new two-dimensional magnetic resonance pulse sequence works well, with a high collection efficiency and good accuracy.